These days Basement Jaxx really don’t need too much of an introduction. Forming in 1994, the duo of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe exploded in the late ‘90s to become a steadfast part of the global dance and party scene. From their early albums Remedy and Rooty, anthems like Where’s Your Head At, their live shows or their DJ sets, Basement Jaxx draw attention whatever part of the world they happen to be in.

Coming down under for New Years in DJ mode, Felix Buxton spoke to inthemix’s Tom Griffin down the line from the UK.

Thanks for talking with us Felix. So how is life treating Basement Jaxx at the moment?
Yeah, good. We were DJing at a festival in Brussels on the weekend and Paris on Friday, then we’ve been in the studio the last couple of days doing music for a British film – aliens come to earth in South London! So we’ve been working on that which I think is going to be finished by the end of January.

But yeah, we’ve been DJing a bit, there’s a new killer Basement Jaxx track coming out very soon called Dracula. Plus I’ve done a couple of disco tracks by Jon Giovanni and they are coming out in January as well I think. I’ve also been in Holland with an orchestra – we’re working on a classical concert with Basement Jaxx to play in Amsterdam next year!

So, the movie sounds like a change of pace – what can you tell us about it?
Yeah it’s quite nice really – you get a new scene everyday and then you have to do the music and you have to get it done and it’s kind of like a regular days work. There’s something really nice about it because you’re given a brief and certain guidelines and you don’t have to do so much extra thinking.

I think we’re both kind of enjoying it really because you can be creative, but you’ve got your limits rather than just doing anything, it’s a good discipline. But what is challenging though is the tempo. Because it’s a movie the tempo is constantly switching and moods are switching. So within 30 seconds the scene might change from positive to all of a suddenly downbeat.

You’re coming down to Australia around New Years. How do you and Simon work out your sets between you and what are you bringing down for your show?
Well we won’t be bringing much down this time, maybe just a pair of headphones and loads of CDs. We haven’t really made the jump to Serato or anything like that. I’m a bit accident prone anyway and tend to destroy CDs. I’m also a bit scared of having a laptop where you’re having a party; it doesn’t really work for me. To me it seems like using a mouse and being in front of a computer when you’re supposed to be having fun doesn’t really mix. Maybe I’m old fashioned in that way; I think I’m more primal. I like to be an animal or feel like an animal.